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A    SUCCINCT    11ECORD    of   liis    LIFE.      By    Archibald    For 

3 


JlOLOGt 


A    RED-HEADED. 
FAMILY. 


"  CE'TINGLY  I  ken,  ce'tingly,  seh,"  said  my 
Cracker  host,  taking  down  his  long  flint-lock 
rifle  from  over  the  cabin  door  and  slipping  his 
frowzy  head  through  the  suspension-strap  of 
his  powder-horn  and  bullet-pouch.  "  Ce'tingly, 
seh,  I  ken  cyarry  ye  ter  wha'  them  air  birds 
hed  their  nestis  las'  yer." 

I  had  passed  the  night  in  the  cabin,  and  now 
as  I  recall  the  experience  to  mind,  there  comes 
the  grateful  fragrance  of  pine  wood  to  empha- 
size the  memory.  Corn  "  pones  "  and  broiled 
chicken,  fried  bacon  and  sweet  potatoes, 
strong  coffee  and  scrambled  eggs — a 
breakfast,  indeed,  to  half  persuade  one  that  a 
Cracker  is  a  bon  vivant, — had  just  been  eaten. 
I  was  standing  outside  the  cabin  on  the  rude 
door-step.  Far  off  through  the  thin  pine  woods 
to  the  eastward,  where  the  sun  was  beginning 
to  flash,  a  herd  of  "  scrub  "  cattle  were  formed 
into  a  wide  skirmish  line  of  browsers,  led  by 
an  old  cow,  whose  melancholy  bell  clanged  in 
time  to  her  desultory  movements.  Near  by, 
to  the  westward,  lay  one  of  those  great  gloomy 
swamps,  so  common  in  Southeastern  Georgia, 
so  repellant  and  yet  so  fascinating,  so  full  of 
interest  to  the  naturalist,  and  yet  so  little  ex- 
plored. The  perfume  of  yellow  jasmine  was 
in  the  air,  along  with  those  indescribable 

M203577 


FAMILY. 

woodsy  odors  which  almost  evade  the  sense 
of  smell,  and  yet  so  pleasingly  impress  it.  A 
rivulet,  slow,  narrow,  and  deep,  passed  near  the 
front  of  the  cabin,  with  a  faint,  dreamy  mur- 
mur and  crept  darkling  into  the  swamp 
between  dense  brakes  of  cane,  and  bay- 
bushes. 

"  Ye-as,  sen,  I  ken  mek  er  bee-line  to  that 
air  ole  pine  snag.  Hit  taint  more'n  er  half  er 
mile  out  yender,"  continued  my  host  and  vol- 
unteer guide,  as  we  climbed  the  little  worm- 
fence  that  inclosed  the  house ;  "  but  I  allus 
called  'em  air  birds  woodcocks  ;  didn't  know 
'at  they  hed  any  other  name  ;  allus  thut  'at  a 
Peckwood  wer'  a  leetle,  tinty,  stripedy  feller  ; 
never  hyeard  er  them  air  big  ole  woodcocks 
a  bein'  called  Peckwoods." 

He  led  and  I  followed  into  the  damp,  moss- 
scented  shadows  of  the  swamp,  under  cypress 
and  live-oak  and  through  slender  fringes  of 
cane.  We  floundered  across  the  coffee-colored 
stream,  the  water  cooling  my  India-rubber 
wading-boots  above  the  knees,  climbed  over 
great  walls  of  fallen  tree-boles,  crept  under 
low-hanging  festoons  of  wild  vines,  and  at 
length  found  ourselves  wading  rather  more 
than  ankle-deep  in  one  of  those  shallow 
cypress  lakes  of  which  the  larger  part  of  the 
Okefenokee  region  is  formed.  I  thought  it  a 
very  long  half-mile  before  we  reached  a  small 
tussock  whereon  grew,  in  the  midst  of  a  dense 
underbrush  thicket,  some  enormous  pine 
trees. 

"  Ther',"  said  the  guide,  "  thet  air  snag  air 
the  one.  Sorter  on  ter  tother  side  ye'll  see 
the  hole,  'bout  twenty  foot  up.  Kem  yer,  I'll 
show  hit  ter  ye." 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMIL  Y.  7 

The  "  snag  "  was  a  stump  some  fifty  feet  tall, 
barkless,  smooth,  almost  as  white  as  chalk, 
the  decaying  remnant  of  what  had  once  been 
the  grandest  pine  on  the  tussock. 

"  Hello,  yer' !  Hit's  ben  to  work  some  more 
sence  I  wer'  yer'  las'  time.  Hit  air  done  dug 
another  hole !  " 

As  he  spoke  he  pointed  indicatively,  with 
his  long,  knotty  fore-finger.  I  looked  and 
saw  two  large  round  cavities,  not  unlike  im- 
mense auger-holes,  running  darkly  into  the 
polished  surface  of  the  stump,  one  about  six 
feet  below  the  other,  the  lower  twenty-five  feet 
above  the  ground.  Surely  it  was  no  very  strik- 
ing picture,  this  bare,  weather-whitened  col- 
umn, with  its  splintered  top  and  its  two  orifices, 
and  yet  I  do  not  think  it  was  a  weakness  for 
me  to  feel  a  thrill  of  delight  as  I  gazed  at  it. 
How  long  and  how  diligently  I  had  sought  the 
home  of  Camp  ephilus  princip  alls ,  the  great  king 
of  the  red-headed  family,  and  at  last  I  stood 
before  its  door ! 

At  my  request,  the  kind  Cracker  now  left 
me  alone  to  prosecute  my  observations. 

"  Be  in  ter  dinner  ?  "  he  inquired  as  he 
turned  to  go. 

"  No  ;  supper,"  I  responded. 

"  Well,  tek  cyare  ev  yerself,"  and  off  he  went 
into  the  thickest  part  of  the  cypress. 

I  waited  awhile  for  the  solitude  to  regain  its 
equilibrium  after  the  slashing  tread  of  my 
friend  had  passed  out  of  hearing  ;  then  I  stole 
softly  to  the  stump  and  tapped  on  it  with  the 
handle  of  my  knife.  This  I  repeated  several 
times.  Campephilus  was  not  at  home,  for  if  he 
had  been  I  should  have  seen  a  long,  strong^ 
ivory-white  beak  thrust  out  of  the  hole  up  there, 


8  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

followed  by  a  great  red-crested  head  turned 
sidewise  so  as  to  let  fall  upon  me  the  glint  of 
an  iris  unequalled  by  that  of  any  other  bird  in 
the  world.  He  had  gone  out  early.  I  should 
have  to  wait  and  watch;  but  first  I  satisfied 
myself  by  a  simple  method  that  my  watching 
would  probably  not  be  in  vain.  A  little  exam- 
ination of  the  ground  at  the  base  of  the  stump 
showed  me  a  quantity  of  fresh  wood-fragments, 
not  unlike  very  coarse  saw-dust,  scattered  over 
the  surface.  This  assured  me  that  one  of  the 
excavations  above  was  a  new  one,  and  that  a 
nest  was  either  building  or  had  been  finished 
but  a  short  while.  So  I  hastily  hid  myself  on 
a  log  in  a  clump  of  bushes,  distant  from  the 
stump  about  fifty  feet,  whence  I  could  plainly 
see  the  holes. 

One  who  has  never  been  out  alone  in  a 
Southern  swamp  can  have  no  fair  understand- 
ing of  its  loneliness,  solemnity  and  funereal 
sadness  of  effect.  Even  in  the  first  gush  of 
Spring — it  was  now  about  the  sixth  of  April — I 
felt  the  weight  of  something  like  eternity  in  the 
air — not  the  eternity  of  the  future  but  the 
eternity  of  the  past.  Everything  around  me 
appeared  old,  sleepy,  and  musty,  despite  the 
fresh  buds,  tassels,  and  flower-spikes.  What 
can  express  dreariness  so  effectually  as  the 
long  moss  of  those  damp  woods  ?  I  imagined 
that  the  few  little  birds  I  saw  flitting  here  and 
there  in  the  tree  tops  were  not  so  noisy  and 
joyous  as  they  would  be  when,  a  month  later, 
their  northward  migration  should  bring  them 
into  our  greening  Northern  woods.  As  the 
sun  mounted,  however,  a  cheerful  twitter  ran 
with  the  gentle  breeze  through  the  bay  thickets 
and  magnolia  clumps,  and  I  recognized  a  num- 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  9 

her  of  familiar  voices ;  then  suddenly  the 
gavel  of  Campephilus  sounded  sharp  and  strong 
a  quarter-mile  away.  A  few  measured  raps, 
followed  by  a  rattling  drum-call,  a  space  of  si- 
lence rimmed  with  receding  echoes,  and  then 
a  trumpet-note,  high,  full,  vigorous,  almost  start- 
ling, cut  the  air  with  a  sort  of  broadsword 
sweep.  Again  the  long-roll  answered,  from  a 
point  nearer  me,  by  two  or  three  hammer-like 
raps  on  the  resonant  branch  of  some  dead  cy. 
press-tree.  The  king  and  queen  were  coming 
to  their  palace.  I  waited  patiently,  knowing 
that  it  was  far  beyond  my  power  to  hurry  their 
movements.  It  was  not  long  before  one  of 
the  birds,  with  a  rapid  cackling  that  made  the 
wood  rattle,  came  over  my  head,  and  went 
straight  to  the  stump,  where  it  lit,  just  below 
the  lower  hole,  clinging  gracefully  to  the  trunk. 
It  was  a  superb  specimen — the  female,  and  I 
suspected  that  she  had  come  to  leave  an  egg.  I 
could  have  killed  her  easily  with  the  little  six- 
teen-gauge  breech-loader  at  my  side,  but  I 
would  not  have  done  the  act  for  all  the  stuffed 
birds  in  the  country.  I  had  come  as  a  visitor 
to  this  palace,  with  the  hope  of  making  the  ac- 
quaintance I  had  so  long  desired,  and  not  as 
an  assassin.  She  was  quite  unaware  of  me, 
and  so  behaved  naturally,  her  large  gold-amber 
eyes  glaring  with  that  wild  sincerity  of  ex- 
pression seen  in  the  eyes  of  but  few  savage 
things. 

After  a  little  while  the  male  came  bounding 
through  the  air,  with  that  vigorous  galloping 
flight  common  to  all  our  woodpeckers,  and  lit 
on  a  fragmentary  projection  at  the  top  of  the 
stump.  He  showed  larger  than  his  mate,  and 
his  aspect  was  more  fierce,  almost  savage. 


io  A  RED-HEADED  FAMIL  Y. 

The  green-black  feathers  near  his  shoulders, 
the  snow-white  lines  down  his  neck,  and  the  tall 
red  crest  on  his  head,  all  shone  with  great  brill- 
iancy, whilst  his  ivory  beak  gleamed  like  a 
dagger.  He  soon  settled  for  me  a  question 
which  had  long  been  in  my  mind.  With  two 
or  three  light  preliminary  taps  on  a  hard  heart- 
pine  splinter,  he  proceeded  to  beat  the  regular 
woodpecker  drum-call — that  long  rolling  rattle 
made  familiar  to  us  all  by  the  common  red- 
head (Melanerpes  erythrocephalus)  and  our 
other  smaller  woodpeckers.  This  peculiar  call 
is  not,  in  my  opinion,  the  result  of  elasticity  or 
springiness  in  the  wood  upon  which  it  is  per- 
formed, but  is  effected  by  a  rapid,  spasmodic 
motion  of  the  bird's  head,  imparted  by  a  volun- 
tary muscular  action.  I  have  seen  the  com- 
mon Red-head  make  a  soundless  call  on  a 
fence-stake  where  the  decaying  wood  was 
scarcely  hard  enough  to  prevent  the  full  en- 
trance of  his  beak.  His  head  went  through 
the  same  rapid  vibration,  but  no  sound  accom- 
panied the  performance.  Still,  it  is  resonance 
in  the  wood  that  the  bird  desires,  and  it  keeps 
trying  until  a  good  sounding-board  is  found. 
It  was  very  satisfying  to  me  when  the  superb 
King  of  the  Woodpeckers— /zV  noir  a  bee  blanc^ 
as  the  great  French  naturalist  named  it — went 
over  the  call,  time  after  time,  with  grand  ef- 
fect, letting  go,  between  trials,  one  or  two  of 
his  triumphant  trumpet-notes.  Hitherto  I  had 
not  seen  the  Campephilus  do  this,  though  I  had 
often  heard  what  I  supposed  to  be  the  call. 
As  I  crouched  in  my  hiding-place  and  furtively 
watched  the  proceedings,  I  remember  com- 
paring the  birds  and  their  dwelling  to  some 
half-savage  lord  and  lady  and  their  isolated 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  11 

castle  of  medieval  days.  A  twelfth-century 
bandit  nobleman  might  have  gloried  in  trigging 
himself  in  such  apparel  as  my  ivory-billed 
woodpecker  wore.  What  a  perfect  athlete  he 
appeared  to  be,  as  he  braced  himself  for  an 
effort  which  was  to  generate  a  force  sufficient 
to  hurl  his  heavy  head  and  beak  back  and 
forth  at  a  speed  of  about  twenty-eight  strokes 
to  the  second ! 

All  of  our  woodpeckers,  pure  and  simple — 
that  is,  all  of  the  species  in  which  the  wood- 
pecker character  has  been  preserved  almost 
unmodified — have  exceedingly  muscular  heads 
and  strikingly  constricted  necks;  their  beaks 
are  nearly  straight,  wedge-shaped,  fluted  or 
ribbed  on  the  upper  mandible,  and  their  nos- 
trils are  protected  by  hairy  or  feathery  tufts. 
Their  legs  are  strangely  short  in  appearance, 
but  are  exactly  adapted  to  their  need,  and  their 
tail-feathers  are  tipped  with  stiff  points.  These 
features  are  all  fully  developed  in  the  Campe- 
philus  prinripalis,  the  bill  especially  showing  a 
size,  strength  and  symmetrical  beauty  truly 
wonderful. 

The  stiff  pointed  tail-feathers  of  the  wood- 
pecker serve  the  bird  a  turn  which  I  have  nev- 
er seen  noted  by  any  ornithologist.  When 
the  bird  must  strike  a  hard  blow  with  its  bill, 
it  does  not  depend  solely  upon  its  neck  and 
head;  but,  bracing  the  points  of  its  tail-feath- 
ers against  the  tree,  and  rising  to  the  full 
length  of  its  short,  powerful  legs,  and  drawing 
back  its  body,  head,  and  neck  to  the  farthest 
extent,  it  dashes  its  bill  home  with  all  the 
force  of  its  entire  bodily  weight  and  muscle.  I 
have  seen  the  ivory-bill,  striking  thus,  burst 
off  from  almost  flinty-hard  dead  trees  frag- 


12  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

ments  of  wood  half  as  large  as  my  hand ;  and 
once  in  the  Cherokee  hills  of  Georgia  I  watched 
a  pileated  woodpecker  (Hylotomus  pileatus)  dig 
a  hole  to  the  very  heart  of  an  exceedingly 
tough,  green,  mountain  hickory  tree,  in  order 
to  reach  a  nest  of  winged  ants.  The  point  of 
ingress  of  the  insects  was  a  small  hole  in  a 
punk  knot ;  but  the  bird,  by  hopping  down  the 
tree  tail-foremost  and  listening,  located  the 
nest  about  five  feet  below,  and  there  it  pro- 
ceeded to  bore  through  the  gnarled,  cross- 
grained  wood  to  the  hollow. 

Of  all  our  wild  American  birds,  I  have 
studied  no  other  one  which  combines  all  of  the 
elements  of  wildness  so  perfectly  in  its  char- 
acter as  does  the  ivory-billed  woodpecker.  It 
has  no  trace  whatever  in  its  nature  of  what 
may  be  called  a  tameable  tendency.  Savage 
liberty  is  a  prerequisite  of  its  existence  and  its 
home  is  the  depths  of  the  woods,  remotest 
from  the  activities  of  civilized  man.  It  is  a 
rare  bird,  even  in  the  most  favorable  regions, 
and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  specimens  of 
its  eggs.  Indeed,  I  doubt  if  there  are  a  dozen 
cabinets  in  all  the  world  containing  these  eggs  ; 
but  they  are  almost  exactly  similar  in  size, 
color  and  shape  to  those  of  Hylotomm pileatus, 
the  only  difference  being  that  the  latter  are, 
upon  close  examination,  found  to  be  a  little 
shorter,  and,  as  I  have  imagined,  a  shade  less 
semi-transparent  porcelain-white,  if  I  may  so 
express  it. 

The  visit  of  my  birds  to  their  home  in  the 
stump  lasted  nearly  two  hours.  The  female 
went  into  and  out  of  the  hole  several  times 
before  she  finally  settled  herself,  as  I  sup- 
pose, on  her  nest.  When  she  came  forth  at 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  13 

the  end  of  thirty  or  forty  minutes,  she  ap- 
peared exceedingly  happy,  cackling  in  a  low, 
harsh,  but  rather  wheedling  voice,  and  evident- 
ly anxious  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  male, 
who  in  turn  treated  her  with  lofty  contempt. 
To  him  the  question  of  a  new  egg  was  not 
worth  considering.  But  when  she  at  last 
turned  away  from  him,  and  mounting  into  the 
air,  galloped  off  into  the  solemn  gloom  of  the 
cypress  wood,  he  followed  her,  trumpeting  at 
the  top  of  his  voice. 

Day  after  day  I  returned  to  my  hiding-place 
to  renew  my  observations,  and,  excepting  a 
visitation  of  mosquitoes  now  and  then,  no- 
thing occurred  to  mar  my  enjoyment.  As  the 
weather  grew  warmer  the  flowers  and  leaves 
came  on  apace,  and  the  swamp  became  a  vast 
wilderness  of  perfume  and  contrasting  colors. 
Bird  songs  from  migrating  warblers,  vireos, 
finches  and  other  happy  sojourners  for  a  day 
(or  mayhap  they  were  all  nesting  there,  I  can- 
not say,  for  I  had  larger  fish  to  fry),  shook  the 
wide  silence  into  sudden  resonance.  Along 
the  sluggish  little  stream  between  the  cane- 
brakes,  the  hermit-thrush  and  the  cat-bird  were 
met  by  the  green  heron  and  the  belted  king- 
fisher. The  snake-bird,  too,  that  veritable 
water-dragon  of  the  South,  was  there,  wrig- 
gling and  squirming  in  the  amber-brown  pools 
amongst  the  lily-pads  and  lettuce. 

At  last,  one  morning,  my  woodpeckers  dis- 
covered me  in  my  hiding-place  ;  and  that  was 
the  end  of  all  intimacy  between  us.  Thence- 
forth my  observations  were  few  and  at  a  long 
distance.  No  amount  of  cunning  could  serve 
me  any  turn.  Go  as  early  as  I  might,  and  hide 
as  securely  as  I  could,  those  great  yellow  eyes 


14  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

quickly  espied  me,  and  then  there  would  be  a 
rapid  and  long  flight  away  into  the  thickest 
and  most  difficult  part  of  the  swamp. 

I  confess  that  it  was  with  no  little  debate 
that  I  reached  the  determination  that  it  was 
my  duty  to  rob  that  nest  in  the  interest  of 
knowledge.  It  was  the  first  opportunity  I 
ever  had  had  to  examine  an  occupied  nest  of 
the  Campephilus  principalis,  and  I  felt  that  it 
was  scarcely  probable  that  I  should  ever 
again  be  favored  with  such  a  chance.  With 
the  aid  of  my  Cracker  host,  I  erected  a  rude 
ladder  and  climbed  up  to  the  hole.  It  was 
almost  exactly  circular,  and  nearly  five  inches 
in  diameter.  With  a  little  axe  I  began  break- 
ing and  hacking  away  the  crust  of  hard  outer 
wood.  The  cavity  descended  with  a  slightly 
spiral  course,  widening  a  little  as  it  proceeded. 
I  had  followed  it  nearly  five  feet  when  I  found 
a  place  where  it  was  contracted  again,  and  im- 
mediately below  was  a  sudden  expansion,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  was  the  nest.  Five 
beautiful  pure  white  eggs  of  the  finest  old- 
china  appearance,  delicate,  almost  transparent, 
exceedingly  fragile,  and,  to  the  eyes  of  a 
collector,  vastly  valuable,  lay  in  a  shallow 
bowl  of  fine  chips.  But  in  breaking  away  the 
last  piece  of  wood-crust,  I  jerked  it  a  little  too 
hard,  and  those  much  coveted  prizes  rolled  out 
and  fell  to  the  ground.  Of  course  they  were 
"  hopelessly  crushed, "  and  my  feelings  with 
them.  I  would  willingly  have  fallen  in  their 
stead,  if  the  risk  could  have  saved  the  eggs.  I 
descended  ruefully  enough,  hearing  as  I  did  so 
the  loud  cry  of  Campephilus  battling  around  in 
the  jungle.  Once  or  twice  more  I  went  back  to 
the  spot  in  early  morning,  but  my  birds  did 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  15 

not  appear.  I  made  minute  examination  of 
the  rifled  nest,  and  also  tore  out  the  other  ex- 
cavation, so  as  to  compare  the  two.  They 
were  very  much  alike,  especially  in  the  jug- 
shape  of  their  lower  ends.  From  a  careful 
study  of  all  the  holes  (apparently  made  by 
Campephilus)  that  I  have  been  able  to  find  and 
reach  in  either  standing  or  fallen  trees,  I  am 
led  to  believe  that  this  jug-shape  is  peculiar  to 
the  ivory-bill's  architecture,  as  I  have  never 
found  it  in  the  excavations  of  other  species, 
save  where  the  form  was  evidently  the  result 
of  accident.  The  depth  of  the  hole  varies 
from  three  to  seven  feet,  as  a  rule,  but  I  found 
one  that  was  nearly  nine  feet  deep  and  anoth- 
er that  was  less  than  two.  Our  smaller  wood- 
peckers, including  Hylotomus  pikatus,  usually 
make  their  excavations  in  the  shape  of  a  grad- 
ually widening  pocket,  of  which  the  entrance  is 
the  narrowest  part. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that — beginning  with  the 
ivory-bill  and  coming  down  the  line  of  species 
in  the  scale  of  size — we  find  the  red  mark  on 
the  head  rapidly  falling  away  from  a  grand 
scarlet  crest  some  inches  in  height  to  a  mere 
touch  of  carmine,  or  dragon's  blood,  on  crown, 
nape,  cheek,  or  chin.  The  lofty  and  brilliant 
head-plume  of  the  ivory-bill,  his  powerful  beak, 
his  semi-circular  claws  and  his  perfectly  spiked 
tail,  as  well  as  his  superiority  of  size  and 
strength,  indicate  that  he  is  what  he  is,  the 
original  type  of  the  woodpecker,  and  the  one 
pure  species  left  to  us  in  America.  He  is  the 
only  woodpecker  which  eats  insects  and  larvae 
(dug  out  of  rotten  wood)  exclusively.  Neither 
the  sweetest  fruits  nor  the  oiliest  grains  can 
tempt  him  to  depart  one  line  from  his  heredi- 


16  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

tary  habit.  He  accepts  no  gifts  from  man,  and 
asks  no  favors.  But  the  pileated  woodpecker, 
just  one  remove  lower  in  the  scale  of  size, 
strength,  and  beauty,  shows  a  little  tendency 
towards  a  grain  and  fruit  diet,  and  it  also  often 
descends  to  old  logs  and  fallen  boughs  for  its 
food — a  thing  never  thought  of  by  the  ivory-bill. 
As  for  the  rest  of  the  red-headed  family,  they 
are  degenerate  species,  though  lively,  clever, 
and  exceedingly  interesting.  What  a  sad 
dwarf  the  little  downy  woodpecker  is  when 
compared  with  the  ivory-bill !  and  yet  to  my 
mind  it  is  clear  that  Picus  pubescens  is  the  de- 
generate off-shoot  from  the  grand  campephilus 
trunk. 

Our  red-headed  woodpecker  (M.  erythro- 
cephalus)  is  a  genuine  American  in  every  sense, 
a  plausible,  querulous,  aggressive,  enterpris- 
ing, crafty  fellow,  who  tries  every  mode  of  get- 
ting a  livelihood,  and  always  with  success.  He 
is  a  wood-pecker,  a  nut-eater,  a  cider-taster,  a 
judge  of  good  fruits,  a  connoisseur  of  corn, 
wheat,  and  melons,  and  an  expert  fly-catcher  as 
v/ell.  As  if  to  correspond  with  his  versatility 
of  habit,  his  plumage  is  divided  into  four  reg- 
ular masses  of  color.  His  head  and  neck  are 
crimson,  his  back,  down  to  secondaries,  a 
brilliant  black,  tinged  with  green  or  blue  in 
the  gloss ;  then  comes  a  broad  girdle  of  pure 
white,  followed  by  a  mass  of  black  at  the  tail 
and  wing-tips.  He  readily  adapts  himself  to 
the  exigencies  of  civilized  life.  I  prophecy 
that,  within  less  than  a  hupdred  years  to  come, 
he  will  be  making  his  nest  on  the  ground,  in 
hedges  or  in  the  crotches  of  orchard  trees. 
Already  he  has  begun  to  push  his  way  out  into 
our  smaller  Western  prairies,  where  there  is  no 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  17 

dead  timber  for  him  to  make  his  nest-holes  in. 
I  found  a  compromise-nest  between  two  fence- 
rails  in  Illinois,  which  was  probably  a  fair  index 
of  the  future  habit  of  the  red-head.  It  was 
formed  by  pecking  away  the  inner  sides  of  two 
vertical  parallel  rails,  just  above  a  horizontal 
one,  upon  which,  in  a  cup  of  pulverized  wood, 
the  eggs  were  laid.  This  was  in  the  prairie 
country  between  two  vast  fields  of  Indian  corn. 
The  power  of  sight  exhibited  by  the  red- 
headed woodpecker  is  quite  amazing.  '  I  have 
seen  the  bird,  in  the  early  twilight  of  a  summer 
evening,  start  from  the  highest  spire  of  a  very 
tall  tree,  and  fly  a  hundred  yards  straight  to  an 
insect  near  the  ground.  He  catches  flies  on 
the  wing  with  as  deft  a  turn  as  does  the  great- 
crested  fly-catcher.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
offer  any  ornithological  theories  in  this  pa- 
per ;  but  I  cannot  help  remarking  that  the  far- 
ther a  species  of  woodpecker  departs  from  the 
feeding-habit  of  the  ivory-bill,  the  more  broken 
up  are  its  color-masses,  and  the  more  diffused 
or  degenerate  becomes  the  typical  red  tuft  on 
the  head.  The  golden-winged  woodpecker 
(Colaptes  entrains),  for  instance,  feeds  much  on 
the  ground,  eating  earth-worms,  seeds,  beetles, 
etc. ;  and  we  find  him  taking  on  the  colors  of 
the  ground-birds  with  a  large  loss  of  the  char- 
acteristic woodpecker  arrangement  of  plumage 
and  color-masses.  He  looks  much  more  like 
a  meadow-lark  than  like  an  ivory -bill !  The 
red  appears  in  a  delicate  crescent,  barely  no- 
ticeable on  the  back  of  the  head,  and  its  bill 
is  slender,  curved,  and  quite  unfit  for  hard 
pecking.  On  the  other  hand,  the  downy 
woodpecker  and  the  hairy  woodpecker,  having 
kept  well  in  the  line  of  the  typical  feeding 
2 


i8  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

habit,  though  seeking  their  food  in  places  be- 
neath the  notice  of  their  great  progenitor, 
have  preserved  in  a  marked  degree  an  outline 
of  the  ivory-bill's  color-masses,  degenerate 
though  they  are.  The  dwarfish,  insignificant 
looking  Picus  pubescens  pecking  away  at  the 
stem  of  a  dead  iron-weed  to  get  the  minute 
larvae  that  may  be  imbedded  in  the  pith,  when 
compared  with  Campephilus  principalis  drum- 
ming on  the  bole  of  a  giant  cypress-tree,  is 
like  a  Digger  Indian  when  catalogued  in  a  col- 
umn with  men  like  Goethe  and  Gladstone, 
Napoleon  and  Lincoln. 

I  have  been  informed  that  the  ivory-bill  is 
occasionally  found  in  the  Ohio  valley;  but  I 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  it  north  of 
the  Cumberland  range  of  mountains.  It  is  a 
swamp  bird,  or  rather  it  is  the  bird  of  the  high 
timber  that  grows  in  low  wet  soil.  Its  princi- 
pal food  is  a  large,  flat-headed  timber-worm, 
known  in  the  South  as  borer  or  saw-worm, 
which  it  discovers  by  ear  and  reaches  by  dili- 
gent and  tremendously  effective  pecking.  A 
Cracker  deer-stalker,  whom  I  met  at  Black- 
shear,  Georgia,  gave  an  amusing  account  of  an 
experience  he  had  had  in  the  swamps.  He 
said  : 

"  I  had  turned  in  late,  and  got  to  sleep  on 
a  tussock  under  a  big  pine,  an'  slep'  tell  sun- 
up. Wull,  es  ther'  I  laid  flat  er  my  back  an' 
er  snorin'  away,  kerwhack  sumpen  tuck  me 
in  the  face  an'  eyes,  jes'  like  spankin'  er 
baby,  an'  I  wuk  up  with  er  gret  chunk  er  wood 
ercross  my  nose,  an'  er  blame  ole  woodcock 
jest  er  whangin'  erway  up  in  thet  pine.  My 
nose  hit  bled  an'  bled,  an'  I  hed  er  good  mint 
er  shoot  thet  air  bird,  but  I  cudn't  stan'  the 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  19 

expense  er  the  thing.  Powder'n'  lead  air 
mighty  costive.  Anyhow  I  don't  s'pose  'at 
the  ole  woodcock  knowed  at  hit  'd  drapped  thet 
air  fraygment  onto  me.  Ef  hit  'd  er  'peared 
like's  ef  hit  wer'  'joyin'  the  joke  any,  I  wud  er 
shot  hit  all  ter  pieces  ef  I'd  er  hed  ter  lived 
on  turpentime  all  winter  ! " 

Of  the  American  woodpecker  there  are 
more  than  thirty  varieties,  I  believe,  nearly 
every  one  of  which  bears  some  trace  of  the 
grand  scarlet  crown  of  the  great  ivory-billed 
king  of  them  all.  The  question  arises — and  I 
shall  not  attempt  to  answer  it — whether  the 
ivory-bill  is  an  example  of  the  highest  develop- 
ment, from  the  downy  woodpecker,  say,  or 
whether  all  these  inferior  species  and  varieties 
are  the  result  of  degeneracy  ?  Neither  Darwin 
nor  Wallace  has  given  us  the  key  that  certainly 
unlocks  this  very  interesting  mystery. 

The  sap-drinking  woodpeckers  (Sphyropicus), 
of  which  there  are  three  or  four  varieties  in 
this  country,  appear  to  form  the  link  between 
the  fruit-eating  and  the  non-fruit-eating  species 
of  the  red-headed  family.  From  sipping  the 
sap  of  the  sugar-maple  to  testing  the  flavor  of 
a  cherry,  a  service-berry,  or  a  haw-apple,  is  a 
short  and  delightfully  natural  step.  How 
logical,  too,  for  a  bird,  when  once  it  has  ac- 
quired the  fruit-eating  habit,  to  quit  delv- 
ing in  the  hard  green  wood  for  a  nectar  so 
much  inferior  to  that  which  may  be  had  ready 
bottled  in  the  skins  of  apples,  grapes,  and  ber- 
ries !  In  accordance  with  this  rule,  M.  erythro- 
cephalus  and  Centurus  carolinus,  though  great 
tipplers,  are  too  lazy  or  too  wise  to  bore  the 
maples,  preferring  to  sit  on  the  edge  of  a 
sugar-trough,  furtively  drinking  therefrom 


20  A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY. 

leisurely  draughts  of  the  saccharine  blood  of 
the  ready-tapped  trees.  I  have  seen  them  with 
their  bills  stained  purple  to  the  nostrils  with 
the  rich  juice  of  the  blackberry,  and  they  quar- 
rel from  morning  till  night  over  the  ripest 
June-apples  and  reddest  cherries,  their  noise 
making  a  Bedlam  of  the  fairest  country  or- 
chard. 

The  woodpecker  family  is  scattered  widely 
in  our  country.  In  the  West  Canadian  woods 
one  meets,  besides  a  number  of  the  commoner 
species,  Lewis'  woodpecker,  a  large,  beautiful, 
and  rare  bird.  The  California  species  include 
the  Nuttall,  the  Harris,  the  Cape  St.  Lucas,  the 
white-headed,  and  several  other  varieties,  all 
showing  more  or  less  kinship  to  the  ivory-bill. 
Lewis's  woodpecker  shows  almost  entirely 
black,  its  plumage  giving  forth  a  strong  green- 
ish or  bluish  lustre.  The  red  on  its  head  is 
softened  down  to  a  fine  rose-carmine.  It  is 
a  wild,  wary  bird,  flying  high,  combining  in 
its  habits  the  traits  of  both  Hylotomus  pikatus 
and  Camp  ephilu  s  princip  alls. 

In  concluding  this  paper  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the 'male  ivory-bill  may  prove  accept- 
able to  those  who  may  never  be  able  to  see 
even  a  stuffed  specimen  of  a  bird  which,  taken 
in  every  way,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting 
and  beautiful  in  America.  In  size  21  inches 
long,  and  33  in  alar  extent ;  bill,  ivory  white, 
beautifully  fluted  above,  and  two  and  a-half 
inches  long;  head-tuft,  or  crest,  long  and 
fine,  of  pure  scarlet  faced  with  black.  Its 
body-color  is  glossy  blue-black,  but  down  its 
slender  neck  on  each  side,  running  from  the 
crest  to  the  back,  a  pure  white  stripe  contrasts 
vividly  with  the  scarlet  and  ebony.  A  mass 


A  RED-HEADED  FAMILY.  21 

of  white  runs  across  the  back  when  the  wings 
are  closed,  as  in  M.  erythrocephalus,  leaving  the 
wing-tips  and  tail  black.  Its  feet  are  ash- 
blue,  its  eyes  amber-yellow.  The  female  is 
like  the  male,  save  that  she  has  a  black  crest 
instead  of  the  scarlet.  I  can  think  of  nothing 
in  Nature  more  striking  than  the  flash  of  color 
this  bird  gives  to  the  dreary  swamp-landscape, 
as  it  careers  from  tree  to  tree,  or  sits  upon 
some  high  skeleton  cypress-branch  and  plies 
its  resounding  blows.  The  species  will  prob- 
ably be  extinct  within  a  few  years.* 

*  Since  writing  the  foregoing,  I  have  made  several  excursions 
in  search  of  the  ivory -bill.  Early  in  January,  1885, 1  killed  a  fine 
male  specimen  in  a  swamp  near  Bay  St.  Louis,  Mississippi ;  but 
was  prevented,  by  an  accident,  from  preserving  it  or  making  a 
sketch  of  it. 

THE    LIBRARY   3IAGAZINE. 

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"As  to  the  contents,  its  readers  can  hardly  ask  for  an 
improvement."— rimes,  Hartford,  Ct. 

"  Embodying  pertinent  current  discussions  taking  a 
wide  range.  Is  of  great  value  to  persons  who  desire  to  keep 
cm  courant  with  the  best  thought  of  the  day."— Press,  St.  Paul. 

"Mr.  Alden  knows  how  to  prepare  a  feast,  and  has 
succeeded  admirably  in  the  LIBRARY  MAGAZINE."— Christian  Ad- 
vocate, Buffalo. 

"  This  exceedingly  valuable  monthly  gives  more  good 
solid  reading  than  has  been  our  wont  to  see.  The  variety  of  the 
subjects  treated  and  the  excellency  of  discrimination  in  regard 
to  topics,  is  especially  commendable."— Journal,  Lockport,  N.  Y. 

"Is  a  most  valuable  repertory  of  the  choicest  solid 
current  literature,  selected  with  admirable  judgment  and  taste. 
It  seems  to  me  the  solid  merits  of  the  Magazine  will  insure  its 
success  and  its  permanency— at  any  rate,  they  ought  to."— BENSON 
J.  LOSSING,  LL.D.,  Dover  Plains,  N.  Y. 

"  It  certainly  is  highly  interesting.  Many  of  the  arti- 
cles are  very  timely.  To  our  readers  who  desire  a  magazine 
filled  to  the  brim  with  excellent  and  timely  essays,  and  furnish- 
ed at  a  price  that  brings  it  within  the  rea"~a  of  all,  we  can  re- 
commend the  '  Library  Magazine.-  "—Free  j.  ress,  Waltham,  Mass. 

•'"We  think  we  are  safe  in  saying  that  nowhere  else 
can  an  equal  amount  of  the  latest  and  choicest  literature  of  the 
day  be  obtained  for  that  sum."—  Champion,  Milton,  Canada. 


PIRATES,    AUTHORS,   AND   CHEA] 
CHOICE    BOOKS. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  the  well-known  Author  and  Ai 
1st  PHILIP  GILBERT  HAMERTON  appeared  in  a  recent  number  of  the  New! 
Publishers'  Weekly: 

"I  saw  by  the  advertisements  in  American  periodicals  that  a  New 
pirate  had  got  hold  of  'An  Intellectual  Life . '    We  sadly  need  a  copy. 
law.    It  would  be  a  benefit  to  all  honest  men,  including  American  autl 
who  would  be  spared  part  of  the  rivalry  produced  by  flooding  the 
with  cheap  pirated  reprints.    Yours  very  truly,  P.  G.  HAMERTON.", 

To  which  I  beg  leave  to  reply  as  follows  : 

DEAR  SIR,— The  above  note  evidently  refers  to  me,  as  I  am  the  one 
lisher  who  has  reprinted  the  work  referred  to  at  a  low  price.    Of  cou 
warms  the  blood,  a  little,  of  an  honest  man,  to  have  another  honest  man  c 
him  a  knave.    When  discussion  gets  to  that  point,  argument  is  cut  c 
will,  however,  make  a  few  points  on  my  side  of  the  case. 

First.— I  am,  and  long  have  been,  heartily  in  favor  of  giving  authors  J I 
control  of  their  productions  upon  their  oivn  terms,  within  the  limits  of  th  I 
bounds  of  common  sense— it  would  hardly  be  practicable  for  us  to  pay  copjl 
right  to  Homer,  and  it  may  be  an  open  question  as  to  when  Macaula}''s  heir  I 
should  cease  to  receive  their  tax ;  there  is,  of  course,  some  limit ;  hones  I 
"doctors  disagree"  as  to  points  of  equity,  expediency,  and  the  best  mettj 
ods  of  bringing  a  happy  future  out  of  the  evil  present. 

Second.— The  laws  of  this  country  (and  I  believe  the  same  is  true  of  oil 
countries)  are  not  as  you  and  other  authors  desire  they  should  be.  Evidently  I 
too,  it  is  quite  as  useless  for  authors  to  expect  to  get  what  they  want  with} 
out  a  CHANGE  in  the  laivs,  as  to  hope  to  reach  the  result  by  calling  put! 
lishers  bad  names.  Where  is  the  common  sense  of  characterizing  me  asil 
"  pirate  "  because  I  multiply  (within  the  bounds  of  law  and  of  custom  sinci] 
the  time  of  Cadmus)  copies  of  your  book  from  the  copy  I  bought  am 
paid  for,  more  than  in  applying  the  same  term  to  one  who  reads  the  boci\ 
aloud  to  a  dozen  friends,  who  consequently  do  not  buy  it — or  more  than  apply 
ing  it  to  YOU" for  appropriating  the  language  and  thoughts  of  the  patriarcl 
JOB  in  one  of  your  books  without  giving  him  any  payment—you  giv$ 
"  credit,"  doubtless,  to  the  authors  whom  you  quote,  but  you  give  them  nc 
pay, — I  give  YOU  credit,  but  no  "pay"  beyond  the  copy  I  buy,  till  we  aril 
able  to  secure  a  change  in  the  present  unsatisfactory  laws. 

Third.  —General  Grant  once  said,  "  The  best  way  to  get  rid  of  a  bad  law  is 
to  enforce  it; "  that  is  my  theory,  and  I  shall  continue  to  practice  upon  it* 
I  expect  to  aid  in  securing  to  you  by  "enforcement "  of  the  legitimate  consul 
quences  of  the  present  laws,  what  authors  would  never  get  by  whining  of 
growling.  Some  people  give  to  my  methods  the  credit  of  being,  possibly, 
the  largest  single  influence  which  is  working  in  this  country  to  bring  about 
the  much  desired  change  in  the  laws. 

Fourth.— While  authors  certainly  have  their  "rights,"  readers  have  some 
rights  also.  When  I  was  a  boy  under  fourteen  years  of  age  the  good  litera- 
ture accessible  to  me  was  limited,  nearly,  to  Murray's  English  Reader,  and 
Josephus'  Works.  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  the  reader's  especial  champion, 
but  I  DO  look  at  the  question  of  the  "intellectual  life  "  for  them  from  their 
standpoint  as  well  as  from  that  of  the  author— and  it  is  amazing  to  me  that 
an  author  of  your  high  character,  intellectual,  humane  and  Christian  (whose 
inspiring  words  "The  humblest  subscriber  to  a  mechanics'  institute  has 
easier  access  to  sound  learning  than  had  either  Solomon  or  Aristotle,"! 
have  placed  before  millions  of  readers)— that  you  should  seem  to  take  no 
pleasure  in  the  fact  that  the  best  literature  of  the  world  has  by  my  efforts 
been  placed  within  the  reach  of  millions  to  whom  it  was  before  unattainable; 
that  I  give  to  YOU  an  appreciative  audience  (far  more  appreciative  than 
you  find  among  your  wealthy  patrons)  among  tens  of  thousands,  who  with* 


PIRATES  AND  AUTHORS.— Continued. 

out  my  efforts  would  never  have  known  you.  I  say  readers  have  rights  as 
well  as  authors;  what  they  are  I  will  not  discuss;  I  say,  simply,  let  the  laws 
be  changed  as  authors  demand;  while  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and 
Lamb  are  free  to  readers,  any  "  monopoly  "  which  living  authors  can  secure 
upon  their  own  writings  will  not  seriously  hurt  readers— and,  furthermore, 
folly  in  law-making,  if  foolish  changes  should  be  made,  would  be  likely 
soon  to  work  its  own  cure,  in  this  age  of  the  printing  press. 

Finally.— Hamerton's  "Intellectual  Life"  ought  to  sell  by  the  hundred 
thousand— ought  to  sell  a  hundred  where  it  has  sold  one  by  the  methods  of 
your  approved  publishers;  when  the  "good  time  coming"  is  here,  and 
authors  can  make  their  own  terms  with  publishers  and  the  public,  perhaps 
you  will  give  me  a  little  credit  and  thanks  for  the  LARGER  audience  you 
will  then  have  because  of  my  present  "piracy,"  Respectfully,  JOHNB.  ALDEN. 

THE  "PIRATE'S"  FRIENDS 

Rejoicingly  testify  to  the  value  of  the  Pirate's  prizes,  one  of  the  finest  of  which 
is  HAMERTON'S  "The  Intellectual  Life,"  reduced  in  cost  from  $2.00  to 
50  cents  in  fine  cloth,  or  $1.00  in  full  Russia,  gilt  edges. 

"Mr.  Alden  is  doing  incalculable  service  to  the  cause  of  international 
copyright."— Pioneer  Press,  St.  Paul. 

"Your  efforts  towards  extending  useful  information  to  all  classes  *  *  * 
ought  to  render  your  name  immortal."— GEN.  J.  W.  PHELPS,  Brattleboro,  Vt. 

HAMERTON'S  'Intellectual  Life.'  "  Young  men  ought  to  own  this  book  in 
a  way  few  books  deserve  to  be  owned,that  is,  by  absolute  mental  possession." 
— Dominion  Churchman,  Toronto. 

"  Published  in  a  style  befitting  the  value  of  this  most  instructive  and 
charming  essay.  The  essay  is  a  jewel  worthy  of  the  finest  setting."— Tran- 
script, Portland,  Me. 

"John  B.  Alden  has  done  another  good  service  to  literature  by  publishing 
'The  Intellectual  Life, 'by  PHILIP  GILBERT  HAMERTON,  in  very  neat  and  con- 
venient style  at  a  price  far  below  what  it  has  heretofore  been  obtainable  for. 
*  The  Intellectual  Life,' which  has  become  a  classic  in  our  language,  is  as 
practical  and  sensible  as  it  is  delightful  reading."— Christian  Intelligencer, 
New  York. 

"MR.  HAMERTON,  fine  artist  and  critic  as  he  is,  would  certainly  not  object 
to  this  American  reprint  of  the  wisest  and  most  graceful  of  his  works,  if  he 
could  see  in  what  a  dainty  and  beautiful  form  Mr.  Alden  has  brought  it 
out."— The  Moravian,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

"  One  man  has  done  more  than  all  other  agencies  combined  to  cheapen 
choice  literature  in  this  country,  and  that  man  is  John  B.  Alden.  Mr.  Alden 
has  had  the  bitterest  denunciation  and  opposition  of  many  of  the  rich  pub- 
lishers who  have  built  up  colossal  fortunes  by  levying  a  heavy  tax  on 
knowledge.  His  undertaking  involved  pioneer  work.  The  difficulties 
thrown  in  his  way  would  have  discouraged  and  defeated  a  man  of  less 
energy  and  determination  than  Alden,  but  he  has  steadily  pressed  forward 
until  the  whole  country  has  felt  the  effect  of  his  enterprise."— Herald-News, 
Denison,  Texas. 

"  The  success  that  is  being  achieved  by  Mr.  Alden  in  his  fight  against  high 
prices  encourages  him  to  improve  constantly  upon  his  work,  and  his  publi- 
cations to-day  are  mechanically  and  in  every  other  way  the  equals  of  those 
got  out  by  any  other  publishing  house  in  the  country."— Evening  Journal, 
Detroit,  Mich. 

"Inclosed  find  $138.47.  The  books  are  as  cheap  as  they  are  good.  Are 
notable  examples  of  the  publisher's  skill,  and  the  virtue  of  Alden's  unex- 
ampled prices."— M.  E.  SATCHWELL,  Spirit  Lake,  Iowa. 


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!IEbe  Xi 


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and  the  New  Persian  Empire.  By  GEORGE  RAWLINSON,  M.  A.,  Professor 
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ment that  lay  hidden  in  an  issue  of  cheap  books,  the  consequent  diffusion 
of  knowledge  and  stirring-up  of  free  thought,  none  ever  dreamed  of  such 
books  as  these.  Even  we,  who  are  familiar  with  so  many  achievements  in 
this  line,  confess  to  astonishment.  A  book  of  nearly  600  pages,  good  paper, 
clear,  *  leaded '  print,  nearly  500  illustrations  and  two  maps,  neatly  bound, 
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which  it  treats.  It  takes  long  years  of  study,  a  costly  library,  a  rare  faculty 
of  condensation  and  artistic  grouping  to  present  anything  like  an  intelli- 
gible view  of  scenes  more  than  4,000  years  old  ;  to  '  catch  the  form  and  spirit 
of  the  time,'  and  make  a  history  out  of  scattered  memoranda  in  books,  or 
on  stones  and  clay  cylinders.  This  Mr.  Rawlinson  has  done,  and  that  he  has 
done  it  well  is  attested  by  the  universal  judgment  of  all  English  speaking 
people.  No  better  work  on  the  subject,  and  no  edition  so  cheap  and  good, 
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The  author  is  evidently  at  home  and  inspires  the  reader  with  a  proper  con- 
fidence. Until  recently  Prof.  Rawlinson's  great  work  has  been  caviare 
to  the  multitude.  Its  price  confined  it  to  scholarly  libraries.  But  John  B. 
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fore us,  and  declare  the  test  to  be  successful.  Any  one  may  now  supply 
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tTbe 


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RARE  WORDS  OF  PRAISE. 


Intellectual  Xife. 

The  INTELLECTUAL  LIFE.     By  Philip  Gilbert 

HAMERTON.    Elzevir  Edition,  Bourgeois  type,  leaded,  552  pages.    Cloth, 
red  edges,  5O  cents  ;  full  Russia,  gilt  edges,  very  fine,  8S1.OO. 

One  of  the  most  charming  volumes  in  the  language,  and  wise 
and  helpful  as  it  is  delightful.  The  price  of  the  volume  is  just  one- 
fourth  that  formerly  asked  for  the  Boston  edition. 

; '  The  print  and  paper  are  excellent,  and  altogether,  the  vol- 
ume is  as  pretty  to  look  at  as  it  is  entertaining  to  read."— Democrat 
and  Chronicle,  Rochester,  K  Y. 

"A  book  that  no  one,  young  or  old,  should  fail  to  read,  and 
especially  no  young  man.  It  is  a  marvel  of  neatness  and  cheapness." 
—Examiner,  New  York. 

i£  Hamerton's  delightful  essays  are  here  put  in  form  that  will 
engage  the  eye  of  him  who  loves  to  see  his  favorite  in  pretty  dress, 
becoming  to  $ts  excellence.  All  of  the  essays  are  of  character  to 
entertain  the  general  reader  while  at  the  same  time  the  moral  or 
lesson  of  each  is  so  subtly  taught  as  to  put  itself  in  possession  of  the 
reader  before  he  is  aware  of  it." — Journal,  Indianapolis. 

'  'A  charming  volume  of  wise  and  helpful  reading  for  those 
who  keenly  appreciate  what  is  finest  and  noblest  in  literature." — Cen- 
tral Baptist,  St.  Louis. 

"  In  a  Russian  leather  suit,  and  gilded  edges,  is  the  best  piece 
of  book  work  that  we  have  seen  from  the  press  of  John  Alden.  It  is 
a  book  for  young  men  who  have  heads  worth  using." — Episcopal 
Register,  Philadelphia. 

'•'As  attractive  as  any  gift-book  of  the  season.  The  admira- 
ble essays  which  it  contains  are  masterpieces  of  rhetoric  and  counsel. " 
— Free  Press,  Detroit. 

'*  It  is  not  a  profound,  philosophic  treatise,  but  a  plain,  enter- 
taining statement  of  various  conditions  which  enter  into  the  intellec- 
tual life,  and  of  the  means  by  which  that  life  may  be  reached."— 
'Herald,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

"  We  admire  the  style  in  which  this  book  is  written.  The 
statements  are  simple,  direct,  and  easy  to  be  understood.  The  lan- 
guage is  chaste  and  the  sentiment  highly  moral  and  elevating.  The 
publisher's  part  of  the  work  is  a  marvel  of  cheapness  and  beauty  com- 
bined, making  the  volume  one  of  the  most  suitable  gift-books,  appro- 
priate for  any  occasion,  that  has  ever  been  put  upon  the  market.  It- 
is  only  one  of  the  many  books  published  by  Mr.  Alden  that  astonish 
the  book-buying  world  with  their  striking  qualities  of  great  worth  at 
littlQCOst."— Christian  Advocate,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

*  * '  The  Intellectual  Life  '  of  Hamerton  is  so  well  known  that 
,  it  needs  no  commendation  and  no  introduction.  It  is  helpful,  sugges- 
\  tive,  and  quickening.  All  the  chapters  are  full  of  practical  hints  that 
\areto  be  prized  as  gold,  but  those  on  the  physical  and  moral  basis  of 
bur  intellectual  life  are  worthy  a  special  attention." — Lutheran  Ob- 
server, Philadelphia. 


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